At some point in the past, acreage on the south end of the Rath property which extended north to Dixon Road on Ida-Maybee Road (now Rath Farm Road) started to be used as a cemetery. In the picture above, the St Matthew Lutheran Church cemetery is on the left across the fence with the large spruce trees.

Although a large number of members of the Heiden and Rambow families are buried at St Matthew, only a few are interred at the Rath Cemetery including Helen Esther Heiden, Derek Berns and Dennis Stevens.

When I was a teenager living about 2/3 of a mile from here, one of my best friends was Ken Kehrer (right) who was a stepson of Ted Rath who owned the cemetery. Once when Ted was away for some reason, Ken and I actually buried someone. We were the guys standing off to the side as the graveside ceremony was taking place. After everyone left, Ken and I picked up the fake grass carpet, lowered the casket into the grave and shoveled the soil back into the hole.

Ken was grandson of Norman Kehrer whose second wife was Esther Heiden. Ken's grandmother was Norman's first wife so he was not a Heiden relative himself.